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Sexual Orientation Policy Tally

The term “sexual orientation” is loosely defined as a person’s pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to people of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or more than one sex or gender. Laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation primarily protect or harm lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. That said, transgender people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual can be affected by laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation.

Gender Identity Policy Tally

“Gender identity” is a person’s deeply-felt inner sense of being male, female, or something else or in-between. “Gender expression” refers to a person’s characteristics and behaviors such as appearance, dress, mannerisms and speech patterns that can be described as masculine, feminine, or something else. Gender identity and expression are independent of sexual orientation, and transgender people may identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay or bisexual. Laws that explicitly mention “gender identity” or “gender identity and expression” primarily protect or harm transgender people. These laws also can apply to people who are not transgender, but whose sense of gender or manner of dress does not adhere to gender stereotypes.

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LGBT People

LGBT Americans have families, work hard to earn a living, pay taxes, and serve their communities and their country. Recent research by Gallup finds that 4.5% of the adults in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Applying these figures to the total number of adults in the U.S., this suggests that there are roughly 11 million LGBT adults nationwide.

This page is a collection of all MAP resources addressing the many aspects of LGBT people's lives. For more tailored results, please use the search function at the top of the site or select an issue or population from the Policy menu.

Related Resources

July 2019 - This brief that describes three cases the U.S. Supreme court will consider in Fall 2019, how the Court could rule, and what the implications of the Court’s rulings could mean for LGBT people not just at work but in all areas of life.

June 2019 - Understanding Issues Facing LGBT People in the U.S. is a short primer that summarizes the major areas in which unfair laws and stigma create extra burdens for LGBT people across the country. The guide also includes policy recommendations to address these harmful disparities and to improve the lives of LGBT Americans.

June 2019 - The United States' long history of territorial expansion has resulted in a truly complicated system of governance for territory residents, where even the U.S. Constitution doesn’t always apply. Examining each of the five territories across the more than 38 laws and policies tracked by MAP offers just one metric of LGBT people’s experiences in these territories.

April 2019 - This report examines the experiences of LGBT people in rural America and why they live there. It also analyzes the social and political landscape of rural America and offers a robust set of recommendations for improving the lives of all rural residents, including LGBT people.

March 2019 - When states allow child services decisions to be based on religious beliefs and not the best interests of kids, it’s kids who pay the price. Learn more in this powerful new ad from MAP, the Child Welfare League of America, and the National Association of Social Workers. For more on the campaign, visit KidsPayThePrice.org.

February 2019 - Launched by the Movement Advancement Project, the Biden Foundation, and Gender Spectrum, “Advancing Acceptance” raises awareness of the importance of family and community acceptance in the lives of transgender and gender diverse youth.

February 2019 - Many people don’t understand what it means to be transgender, so some parents or family members struggle when their child comes out as transgender or gender diverse. These resources are geared toward answering those questions. These resources also help parents gain deeper understanding and learn how to best support their child in ways that can help them succeed and thrive.

February 2019 – Many people don’t understand what it means to be transgender or gender diverse, so some communities struggle with how to best work with and support children and youth who are transgender or gender diverse. This document highlights critical resources that promote community understanding and acceptance of transgender and gender diverse youth.

February 2019 – Parents, family and friends of transgender youth can play a vital role in providing guidance to others who know or believe their child might be transgender—and that’s where this guide comes in. Talking About Family Acceptance & Transgender Youth, is designed primarily for use by parents, family and friends of transgender youth and provides an overview of conversation approaches that can help families and friends build and extend support for the transgender youth in their own lives.

February 2019 – Parents, family and friends of transgender youth can play a vital role in providing guidance to others who know or believe their child might be transgender—and that’s where this guide comes in. Hear from the Berman-Ruth and Wylie families discussing how they have supported their son, Xander, a transgender boy, through his transition. This resource was created as part of the Advancing Acceptance campaign. Learn more at www.advancingacceptance.org.

February 2019 – This ad showcases the Berman-Ruth family and their close family friends, the Wylie family, discussing how they have supported their son, Xander, a transgender boy, through his transition. Journeys: The Berman-Ruth & Wylie Families, was released as part of the Advancing Acceptance campaign, a project of MAP, the Biden Foundation and Gender Spectrum. Learn more at www.advancingacceptance.org.

October 2018 - A new brief examines the existing federal, state and local laws and court rulings that offer protections to LGBT workers as well as the gaps that leave workers vulnerable to discrimination because case law or legislation isn’t clear or explicit. This brief also examines the legal gaps that leave workers vulnerable to discrimination because laws don’t explicitly include the terms “sexual orientation” or “gender identity,” and courts have not interpreted sex discrimination provisions correctly.

October 2018 - MAP's latest brief shows how the expansion of the ability of colleges and universities to claim a religious exemption to federal nondiscrimination laws can have a profoundly negative impact on LGBTQ students. These risks include threats of expulsion, increased disciplinary action simply for being LGBT, being denied participation in extracurricular activities, or forced into conversion therapy or counseling.

September 2018 - “Hallway," the new PSA produced by MAP and released in partnership with GLSEN, depicts the harassment transgender students often face when they need to use the restroom at school—and how school administrators and supportive students alike can help. "Hallway," was released as part of the new Safe Schools Movement campaign to encourage parents, educators, youth, and policymakers to advocate for safe schools for LGBTQ youth.

September 2018 - Released as part of the new Safe Schools Movement, this new infographic brief from MAP, GLSEN and NCTE highlights the experience of transgender students in school and the laws and policies still needed to ensure transgender students can fully participate in school.

September 2018 - This policy brief, authored by MAP and the Family Equality Council, in partnership with the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), offers a snapshot of the impact of discriminatory foster and adoption laws on the thousands of children waiting to be adopted in the seven states where these laws currently exist, the high stakes of passing similar laws in other states, and offers recommendations for supporting children in care.

August 2018 - This new brief details the history, demographics and experiences of LGBT people in the workplace. In addition to outlining the barriers facing LGBT workers because of prejudice, the brief also examines the added challenges facing workers—lower wages, lack of comprehensive immigration reform, barriers to employment for individuals with a criminal record, a changing economic landscape—and how these challenges also impact LGBT employees.

July 2018 - Some of the nation’s largest companies including Yelp and Levi Strauss & Co. joined with more than 1,200 small businesses, the cities of New York and Oakland, and a coalition of more than 190 organizations to unveil a new nationwide Open to All campaign. This initiative is focused on encouraging businesses large and small to join together, to declare that they are “open to all.” To learn more, visit www.OpenToAll.com

July 2018 – An amendment to a federal appropriations bill seeks to create a license to discriminate for child welfare providers, prioritizes the interests of providers over the welfare of children, reduces the likelihood that the most vulnerable children will find stability, and cuts more than $1.04 billion to state child welfare budgets. The more than 395,000 children in the child welfare system across the country will pay the price.

June 2018 – In June, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case Masterpiece Cakeshop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. This guide offers background, frequently asked questions and topline messages to facilitate conversations about the case and similar cases about service refusals.

June 2018 – Nursing Home is the latest in a series of ads illustrating the devastating harms many LGBT Americans face because have they no legal protection from discrimination. The new video features an older gay man and his family on the first day he moves into an assisted living facility. When the director of the facility learns the man is gay, he refuses to allow him to move in. No matter their age, and no matter who they love, no one should be turned away from a business or service provider simply because of who they are.

June 2018 – The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Masterpiece case affirmed that states can protect LGBT people from discrimination. Now it’s time for our nation’s laws to catch up to our nation’s values and protect all Americans from discrimination. Join the campaign to call on businesses to declare that they oppose discrimination and that they are Open to All. Visit www.OpenToAll.com to learn more.

June 2018 – Authored by MAP and the Family Equality Council Putting Children at Risk: How Efforts to Undermine Marriage Equality Harm Children highlights how recent efforts to undermine marriage equality and protections for LGBT families pose a profound threat to the children in these families.

May 2018 - The Power of State Preemption: Preventing Progress and Threatening Equality exposes the coordinated effort to limit municipalities from passing local laws, the special interests motivating these efforts, and the negative impact specifically on LGBT people. The report concludes that when preemption is used in this way to undermine people’s economic security, health, and safety, it jeopardizes local democracy and equality for all.

March 2018 - MAP and the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) released a new report, Religious Refusals in Health Care: A Prescription for Disaster, examining the coordinated efforts at the federal and state level to allow medical providers to legally discriminate and deny needed care. These policies could encourage doctors, hospitals, paramedics, and other medical providers to pick and choose which patients they will treat, and who receives medically-necessary treatment.

April 2018 - To support the efforts of Freedom Oklahoma to fight back against a dangerous adoption discrimination bill in 2018, MAP and partners at Lambda Legal and the Family Equality Council ran this ad on television in Oklahoma called “Kids Pay the Price,” illustrating the harms of bills like SB 1140.

March 2018 - To mark the 50th anniversary of the Piggie Park decision, the Open to All campaign, MAP, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights released an ad, “Will We Go Back?,” that looks at how the Masterpiececase before the Supreme Court threatens this historic Civil Rights Ruling ruling.

March 2018 - Learn more about the Piggie Park decision and how creating a constitutional license to discriminate in Masterpiece could undermine that historic ruling. “50 Years Ago vs. Today: Piggie Park & The High Stakes of the Masterpiece Cakeshop Case”

March 2018 - "Open to All" is the latest in a series of ads produced by MAP as part of the Open to All public education campaign. The video features Christian small business owners—Howard and Pat—speaking about how nobody should be turned away from a business simply because of who they are.

Updated March 2018 - To explain why the First Amendment Defense Act is so devastating and should not be re-introduced, this brief provides an analysis of the Senate version of FADA introduced in March 2018 and what it could mean for 10 million lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, along with millions of others. The brief underscores how vigilant we must be to ensure that a license to discriminate is not written into our laws.

February 2018 - Inspired by a real legal case, Funeral Home, the latest in a series of ads produced by MAP as part of the Open to All campaign, depicts a grieving widow who has just lost her spouse, and she and her family are turned away from a funeral home and refused burial services for her wife. The ad is meant to show how a loss in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case would open the door to much wider ranging forms of discrimination—including what the grieving widow in the ad faced.

February 2018 -Released in February 2018, a new public education ad, Funeral Home, produced by MAP, depicts a devastating scenario in which a grieving widow and her family are turned away from a funeral home and refused burial services for her wife. This policy brief outlines how the "Funeral Home" ad depicts the high stakes of the Masterpiece Cakeshop case.

Update February 2018 - Every student deserves a fair chance to succeed in school and prepare for their future—including students who are transgender. This two page infographic offers an explanation of why Title IX of the Civil Rights Act is so important for transgender students and reviews the legal landscape.

Updated February 2018 - Several courts are considering cases brought by LGBT employees who have been discriminated against at work because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. This two page infographic offers an explanation of why Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is so important for LGBT employees and reviews the legal landscape.

January 2018 - This infographic, produced as part of the Tipping the Scales: The Coordinated Attack on LGBT People, Women, Parents, Children, and Health Care report, outlines the mounting legislation and litigation across the country orchestrated to undermine nondiscrimination protections, comprehensive health care, and the regulations administering social and public services by inserting exemptions into the laws based on religious or moral beliefs.

February, 2018 - This policy brief, authored by MAP and the Family Equality Council, in partnership with the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), offers a snapshot of the impact of discriminatory foster and adoption laws on the thousands of children waiting to be adopted in the seven states where these laws currently exist, the high stakes of passing similar laws in other states, and offers recommendations for supporting children in care.

January 2018 -MAP’s latest ad, launched alongside the new LGBT Policy Spotlight: Public Accommodations Nondiscrimination Laws report, depicts how transgender people can experience discrimination, harassment and denial of equal treatment in places of public accommodation.

January 2018 - This spotlight report provides a comprehensive overview of the patchwork of federal, state, and local protections against discrimination in public spaces, and how this puts LGBT people at risk.

November 2017 - This video ad illustrates how Masterpiece could lead to a wider array of people—including LGBT people and families of color—facing discrimination, while helping other viewers imagine how they would feel if they faced similar discrimination. The ad was produced by MAP as part of the Open to All campaign. Learn more at www.OpentoAll.com.

November 2017 - This video ad depicts ways in which a decision in favor of the bakery in this case could be used by those who seek to discriminate against LGBT people and others. The ad was produced by MAP as part of the Open to All campaign. Learn more at www.OpentoAll.com.

November 2017 - This issue brief provides an analysis of the legal questions in the case, and the broad legal implications the case will have on people color, women, minority faiths, people with disabilities and others.

November 2017 - MAP Executive Director Ineke Mushovic discusses the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, and how a loss at the Supreme Court would not only open the door to much wider ranging forms of discrimination, but also to a wider array of people who could face such discrimination. This video was produced by MAP as part of the Open to All campaign. Learn more at www.OpentoAll.com.

November 2017 - This infographic was designed as part of the Open to All campaign and shows how a loss in Masterpiece would open the door to much wider ranging forms of discrimination and a wider array of people facing discrimination. It could lead to the erosion of federal and state nondiscrimination protections across the country. Learn more at www.OpentoAll.com.

November 2017 - For many LGBT older adults, the holidays are a time of social isolation and vulnerability. LGBT older adults are less likely to be married or partnered, and are twice as likely to live alone, leaving them particularly vulnerable to social isolation. This infographic provides resources for LGBT elders as well as information about the challenges facing LGBT older adults. The infographic is translated into six different languages: English, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Arabic and Chinese.

October 2017 - This report examines the alarming and widespread push to pass a variety of religious exemptions laws that would give businesses, government agencies and individuals a right to discriminate on religious or moral grounds. Legislation, executive orders, court cases, and agency guidance all push religious exemptions far beyond what the U.S. Constitution guarantees is the right to exercise religion freely.

September 2017 - This report details how religious exemptions for child welfare providers hurt children and vulnerable families. Agencies that provide services to children and parents should focus on providing loving, stable homes for children and helping families in need. Instead, these laws encourage and enable adoption agencies and their workers to reject qualified parents who don’t share the agency’s or worker’s religious beliefs.

September 2017 - The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality, offers a unique opportunity to examine the lives, experiences, disparities, and resilience of bisexual transgender people. this report analyzes data from the U.S. Transgender Survey, documents disparities for bisexual people and offers recommendations for remedying those disparities.

September 2017 - This report takes a closer look at bisexual older adults: who they are, their unique disparities and resilience, and recommendations for competently serving the community of bisexual older adults. Both the LGBT community and the aging network can and should do more to ensure that bisexual older adults feel welcome both in LGBT spaces and in the aging network’s provision of critical services and supports.

August 2017 - This second edition of Talking About Suicide & LGBT Populations provides facts about suicide and LGBT people, as well as ways to talk about suicide safely and accurately—and in ways that advance vital public discussions about preventing suicide among LGBT people and supporting their health and well-being. En español: Conversaciones sobre el suicidio y las poblaciones LGBT

June 2017 - LGBTQ youth are overrepresented in juvenile detention and correctional facilities. They face bias in adjudication, and mistreatment and abuse in confinement facilities. LGBTQ youth also lack supportive services when leaving the criminal and juvenile justice systems, often forcing them back into negative interactions with law enforcement. This report highlights their experiences and the need to reform the juvenile justice system.

May 2017 - Created to supplement the report Understanding Issues Facing LGBT Older Adults, this video follows Jackie and Tina, two women born in the same town in 1947 whose lives take very different turns.

May 2017 - There are approximately 2.7 million LGBT adults aged 50 and older in the United States, 1.1 million of whom are 65 and older. This report provides an overview of their unique needs and experiences so that service providers, advocates, the aging network, and policymakers can consider these factors when serving this population or passing laws that impact older adults and the LGBT community.

April 2017 - Texas House Bill 3859 would allow child-placement agencies to impose their beliefs on and discriminate against children and families while providing taxpayer-funded services. Agencies would be allowed to make placement decisions based on their religious beliefs, hurting the more than 28,000 children in the care of the state, including nearly 7,000 children awaiting adoption.

April 2017 - This new report examines the harmful and unnecessary policies that exclude transgender students from accessing appropriate school facilities. Despite the success of inclusive policies across the country, seventeen states have introduced legislation designed to ensure transgender students are relegated to facilities that align with the sex on their birth certificate, rather than their gender identity.

March 2017 - Alabama House Bill 24 and Senate Bill 145 would allow child-placement agencies to make placement decisions based on their own religious beliefs, hurting the more than 4,745 children in the care of the state of Alabama, including more than 1,020 children who are awaiting adoption. HB24/SB145 would allow agencies to impose their beliefs on and discriminate against children and families while providing taxpayer-funded services.

March 2017 - To explain why the First Amendment Defense Act is so devastating and should not be re-introduced, this brief provides an analysis of the 2015 version of FADA and what it could mean for 10 million lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, along with millions of others. The brief underscores how vigilant we must be to ensure that a license to discriminate is not written into our laws.

March 2017 - Several states have proposed legislation to allow businesses to discriminate against customers who don’t conform to the specific religious beliefs that marriage should be restricted to a man and a woman, and that sex should be restricted to such marriages. Learn how to have effective conversations and broaden people's understanding of these laws and how they encourage discrimination against same-sex couples, unmarried couples and individuals, single parents, and others.

THIS REPORT HAS BEEN UPDATEDMarch 2017 - Read about religious exemption legislation that would allow child placement and adoption agencies to discriminate against loving families while providing government services paid for with taxpayer money. These laws enable adoption agencies and their workers to reject parents who don’t share the agency’s or worker’s religious beliefs, legally prioritizing those beliefs over the best interests of children.

March 2017 - Some states have introduced legislation to create broad religious exemptions allowing discrimination in taxpayer-funded adoption and foster care services. Such laws would allow adoption agencies and child services workers to make decisions for children in their care based on their religious beliefs, rather than the best interests of the child. Learn how to talk about these harmful laws which deprive children of loving homes.

March 2017 - Senate Bill 149 allows child-placement agencies to make placement and child treatment decisions based on their own religious beliefs, as opposed to following standards that advance the best interests of children. SB 149 would allow child-placement agencies to impose their beliefs on others and to discriminate against children and families, all while providing services paid for with taxpayer money.

February 2017 - To help make sense of the current policy landscape in the states, this report looks at legal equality for transgender people across the country. The gender identity tally is comprised of 25 state laws and policies in five key categories: Non-Discrimination, LGBT Youth, Health and Safety, Ability to Correct the Name and Gender Marker on Identity Documents, and Adoption and Parenting.

January 2017 - As part of ongoing efforts to protect transgender people from discrimination, there is growing momentum to ensure that transgender students have a fair chance at educational success. This guide provides high-level messaging to help build support for policies and laws that protect transgender students and their ability to access school facilities that match their gender identity.

December 2016 - This LGBT Policy Spotlight focuses on HIV criminalization laws, which can carry harsh penalties for behaviors now proven to have no risk of transmitting HIV. These laws endanger public health by perpetuating dangerous stigma and misinformation about HIV, creating a strong disincentive for individuals to find out their HIV status, and disproportionately targeting LGBT people.

September 2016 - Bisexual people are frequently swept into the greater LGB community, their specific disparities made invisible within data about the whole community. This report focuses on the “invisible majority” of the LGBT community, the nearly five million U.S. adults who identify as bisexual and the millions more who have sexual or romantic attraction to people of more than one gender.

August 2016 - This companion report examines how as many as 3.2 million LGBTQ youth are vulnerable to discrimination, profiling, and mistreatment in the juvenile and criminal justice systems. The report also documents the rampant mistreatment and abuse that LGBTQ young people face in court proceedings, detention and re-entry.

August 2016 - Unjust: How the Broken Criminal Justice System Fails LGBT People of Color examines how racism and anti-LGBT discrimination combine to make LGBT people of color uniquely vulnerable to entering the criminal justice system and also facing unfair and abusive treatment once they are in it.

August 2016 - Policy Tallies provide an overview of laws and polices that exist in each state. The major categories of laws covered by the policy tally include: Marriage and Relationship Recognition, Adoption and Parenting, Non-Discrimination, Safe Schools, Health and Safety, and the Ability for Transgender People to Correct the Gender Marker on Identity Documents.

August 2016 - Local employment non-discrimination ordinances protect people from being unfairly fired, not hired, or discriminated against in the workplace by private employers on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.

August 2016 - State religious exemption laws permit people, churches, non-profit organizations, and sometimes corporations to seek exemptions from state laws that burden their religious beliefs. These laws have recently been used as a defense when businesses discriminate against or refuse service to LGBT customers and same-sex couples.

August 2016 - States with the freedom to marry do not ban same-sex couples from entering into legal marriages. Some states also offer comprehensive relationship recognition, such as domestic partnerships or civil unions, to same- and opposite-sex couples. Laws allowing same-sex couples to marry can also benefit bisexual and transgender people in same-sex relationships.

August 2016 - Medical decision-making policies govern whether an LGBT person can make medical decisions for their same-sex partner or spouse, if their partner or spouse is incapacitated or otherwise not able to make their own decisions.

August 2016 - Foster care non-discrimination laws protect LGBT foster parents from discrimination by foster care agencies and officials. Some states explicitly restrict foster care by same-sex parents. Other states ban adoption by unmarried couples, effectively resulting in a ban on foster care by same-sex couples if marriage for same-sex couples is not available in that state.

August 2016 - Donor insemination laws apply when women in a same-sex relationship have a child through donor insemination, granting legal parenting rights to the non-biological mother as well as the birth mother. De facto parenting laws apply when someone is raising a child but is not a legal parent of that child. De Facto parenting laws provide these parents with some limited legal rights to the child.

August 2016 - These estimates of the number of LGBT adults living in each state are based on 2013 analysis by The Williams Institute and Gallup. We applied the percent of the adult population living in a state who said they were LGBT to the total adult population in that state using data from the Census Bureau (2012 estimates).

August 2016 - Explore approaches for talking about transgender people and restrooms in a variety of contexts, including: building support for (and calming concerns about) nondiscrimination protections, opposing harmful anti-transgender bathroom ban laws, and more.

July 2016 - Debuting July 21 on FOX News Channel, this groundbreaking new TV ad created by MAP depicts the challenges transgender people face in accessing public restrooms when our laws don’t protect them from discrimination. For more on the campaign, visit FairnessUSA.org.

May 2016 - Read about approaches for effective conversations about harmful religious exemptions that threaten not only laws that protect LGBT people from discrimination, but also access to health care (including women's reproductive health), public safety, and more.

May 2016 - Transgender people face high levels of discrimination in many areas of life, putting them at risk for economic insecurity, homelessness, and reliance on survival economies. Combined with policing strategies that profile and target transgender people, particularly transgender women of color, the result is high rates of criminalization of transgender people.

February 2016 - Pervasive stigma and discrimination, biased enforcement of laws, and discriminatory policing strategies mean that LGBT people are disproportionately likely to interact with law enforcement and to have their lives criminalized. LGBT people are also treated unfairly once they enter the system; this report shows how they are overrepresented in jails and prisons and face abuse while incarcerated.

February 2016 - From the pages of Unjust come a set of infographics, including: 'Disproportionate Criminalization Of LGBT People,' 'Life After Conviction: LGBT People Face Added Challenges To Rebuilding Their Lives,' 'Understanding The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA),' and more.

February 2016 - Created by the Movement Advancement Project and the Center for American Progress, this video gives a short overview of the issues raised in the report Unjust: How the Broken Criminal Justice System Fails LGBT People.

November 2015 - This LGBT Policy Spotlight examines the state laws and policies that govern the processes by which transgender people are able to correct the name and gender marker on their identity documents to match the gender the person lives every day. The brief includes common sense policy recommendations to help ensure transgender people can access accurate identity documents.

October 2015 - LGBT Policy Spotlight: Nondiscrimination Protections for LGBT People examines federal, state, and local laws protecting LGBT people from discrimination, the perfect tool to educate everyone from elected officials to classmates to family and friends about the important need for basic protections.

October 2015 - LGBT Policy Spotlight: Local Employment Nondiscrimination Ordinances examines city and county nondiscrimination ordinances (NDOs) that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in private employment. The report details where these ordinances are geographically, their growth over time, and the gaps in coverage that remain.

September 2015 - Stigma, legal inequality, and lack of bisexual-specific data contribute to poor outcomes for bisexual people in the United States. This infographic explores these three factors and their impact on bisexual peoples’ health, safety, employment, and economic security.

September 2015 - LGBT Policy Spotlight: State and Federal Religious Exemptions and the LGBT Community examines how state and federal religious exemption laws are being used to harm a broad range of people, interfere with law enforcement, and undermine the rule of law.

July 2015 - This new infographic, “Snapshot: Transgender in America,” gives a quick look at state-level laws and policies that impact the lives of transgender people and provides some key statistics on the challenges transgender people face.

May 2015 - Mapping LGBT Equality in America sets out to identify and explain the key gaps in legal equality for LGBT Americans by introducing the major state and local laws and policies that protect or harm LGBT people, providing a breakdown of those laws and policies by state, and showing how protections for LGBT Americans vary based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.

April 2015 - LGBT Policy Spotlight: Conversion Therapy Bans offers an overview of laws protecting LGBT youth from conversion therapy practices that attempt to change their sexual orientation or gender identity. These practices have been widely discredited and renounced, including by groups like the American Psychological Association.

April 2015 - Learn about conversation approaches that can help build and sustain solid, lasting support for LGBT nondiscrimination laws, and also factually and effectively address concerns that might be raised when discussing the need for such protections.

April 2015 - Systemic failures to protect some students, recognize diverse families, and protect against discrimination create a devastating cycle of poverty for America’s 3 million LGBT people of color. Learn about the economic insecurity faced by LGBT people of color.

March 2015 - Due to discriminatory laws and stigma, LGBT women face lower pay, frequent harassment, compromised access to health care, and heightened violence. As a result, America’s 5.1 million LGBT women are among the most at risk of poverty in America.

February 2015 - Transgender people in the United States face clear financial penalties and are left economically vulnerable because of discrimination and hostile educational environments. Learn more in this companion report to Paying an Unfair Price.

February 2015 - Coauthored by the Movement Advancement Project, the Transgender Law Center, and the National Center for Transgender Equality, with partnership by GLAAD, Understanding Issues Facing Transgender Americans provides a high-level introduction for advocates and allies to the issues facing transgender Americans, as well as recommendations for change.

December 2014 - Published by MAP, the Center for American, Progress, GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign, Understanding Issues Facing LGBT Americans is a short primer that summarizes the major areas in which unfair laws and stigma create extra burdens for LGBT Americans. The guide also includes policy recommendations to address these harmful disparities and to improve the lives of LGBT Americans.

September 2014 - Co-authored by the Movement Advancement Project, BiNet USA and the Bisexual Resource Center, Understanding Issues Facing Bisexual Americans is a new resource offering an overview of the economic and health disparities facing the bisexual community, and recommendations for supporting bisexual people through advocacy, research and programming.

September 2014 - Outdated and discriminatory laws have serious economic impacts, causing LGBT people to have a harder time becoming financially secure and providing for their families. Learn more in the Full Report, Condensed Version, and Executive Summary.

September 2014 - From the pages of Paying an Unfair Price comes a set of shareable infographics, including: 'A Patchwork of Legal Equality' (the Equality Wheel), 'Anti-LGBT Laws Impact Poor People the Most,' 'Poverty in the LGBT Community,' and more.

September 2014 - Watch and share this short new video based on Paying an Unfair Price, and learn how Maria, a lesbian living in Nebraska, faces added costs and economic hardships because of anti-LGBT laws in her state.

June 2014 - New state-focused issue briefs provide overviews of the unfair treatment faced by hardworking LGBT Americans who continue to lack essential protections against discrimination—and as a result, can still be unfairly fired from their jobs simply because of who they are.

May 2014 - LGBT Americans continue to face unfair treatment, harassment and discrimination in the workplace, yet no federal law provides them with explicit legal protections. Learn how businesses and policymakers can help level the playing field and protect LGBT workers from employment discrimination.

April 2014 - To build and sustain support for the freedom to marry, focus on the values of marriage, emphasize why caring people don't deny others the chance of happiness in marriage, share stories of the journey to support, and more.

November 2013 - Safe public discussions about suicide can play a critical role in increasing acceptance of LGBT people and supporting their well-being, while minimizing the risk of a phenomenon known as suicide contagion.

November 2013 - Learn how discriminatory laws and unequal access to family and medical leave laws force lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers to choose between managing medical or family crises and holding onto their jobs and their livelihoods.

November 2013 - LGBT workers of color face unique challenges, including educational barriers; hiring bias and on-the-job discrimination; unequal pay, benefits, and taxation--and extraordinarily high rates of unemployment and poverty as a result. Learn about actions that can help fix this broken bargain for LGBT workers of color.

September 2013 - The basic American bargain--that those who work hard and meet their responsibilities should be able to get ahead--is broken for transgender workers. Learn about the inequities facing transgender workers, and how policymakers and employers can help reduce and eliminate those inequities.

June 2013 - LGBT workers might have the same job as a coworker, yet be legally fired, denied equal benefits and be required to pay thousands of dollars more in taxes simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Learn more in the 132-page Full Report, the 36-page Condensed Version, and the five-page Executive Summary.

June 2013 - From the pages of A Broken Bargain come a set of infographics, including: 'The Broken Bargain for LGBT Workers,' 'Legal Discrimination Makes It Harder to Find and Keep a Good Job,' 'Transgender Workers Work As Hard, Denied Health Care and Leave,' and more.

April 2013 - U.S. taxpayers send almost $300 billion per year in federal contract dollars to businesses in states that have not yet passed laws to protect LGBT workers from discrimination. An executive order would protect an additional 16 million workers and cover more than 20% of the U.S. workforce.

October 2012 - Access easy-to-navigate charts, maps and tables examining key population data on LGBT families, snapshots of how laws and policies hurt children with LGBT parents at the federal and state levels, and more in this companion document to All Children Matter.

October 2012 - The language we use to talk about LGBT people and issues can have a powerful impact on our discussions. The right words can open hearts and minds, while others can create confusion, distance or a sense of being overwhelmed.

September 2012 - Adapted from An Ally's Guide to Terminology, MAP's Terminology at a Glance offers a snapshot of essential vocabulary, terms to avoid, and an overview of approaches for talking about issues like non-discrimination laws, marriage and adoption—all in a short, two-page guide.

July 2012 - Learn how the lack of legal recognition for LGBT families hurts children—and how state policymakers can draft, pass and enact laws that protect all children, including those living with LGBT parents and in other contemporary family structures.

June 2012 - MAP, Family Equality Council, the Center for American Progress, the ACLU and the Human Rights Campaign report on how LGBT families can help fill the pressing need for loving, stable foster and adoptive homes for waiting children.

June 2012 - Focus conversations about parenting, adoption and LGBT parents on how they create loving, stable homes for kids and help ensure that children have the nurturing environment that allows them to thrive and succeed.

April 2012 - MAP, Family Equality Council and the Center for American Progress report on the income tax inequities faced by LGBT families, and how they are denied tax exemptions, credits and deductions that help families ease the financial burdens of raising children.

March 2012 - MAP, Family Equality Council, the Center for American Progress and the National Coalition for LGBT Health examine the obstacles faced by LGBT families as they seek access to a range of health services, health insurance, and equitable tax treatment.

January 2012 - MAP, Family Equality Council, the Center for American Progress and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) report on how inequitable laws hurt children with LGBT parents and contribute to higher rates of child poverty.

January 2012 - Outdated laws that ignore contemporary families have a disproportionately negative impact on children of color. This brief looks at LGBT families of color and how they can be devastated by intersections of laws, stigma and race-based discrimination.

November 2011 - MAP, Family Equality Council and the Center for American Progress partner with the Human Rights Campaign and Freedom to Marry to examine how DOMA denies children basic rights and safety nets—just because their parents are gay.

October 2011 - Read the comprehensive analysis of how our nation’s laws and policies fail to protect 2 million children with LGBT parents—and how common-sense solutions could end the inequalities that create barriers for children in LGBT families.

October 2011 - This 34-page “digest” version of All Children Matter provides a high-level understanding of how legal and social inequalities hurt children of LGBT families—and how children have become collateral damage of laws designed to hurt LGBT people.

October 2011 - This executive summary—featured in the Full Report of All Children Matter: How Legal and Social Inequalities Hurt LGBT Families—provides key findings in capsule form, as well as an overview of the report's policy recommendations.

October 2011 - This 60-second video highlights some of the specific legal and social inequalities—from the denial of access to a parent’s health insurance coverage to the denial of legal protections if a parent becomes disabled or dies—that hurt children of LGBT parents.

October 2011 - An overwhelming majority of African Americans strongly agree that LGBT people experience discrimination. Likewise, they strongly support efforts to secure equal rights for LGBT Americans. However, research also shows that using the term civil rights to describe LGBT equality hinders our conversations with many African Americans.

September 2011 - The pursuit of equality is about everyday Americans who want the same chance as everyone else to pursue health and happiness, earn a living, be safe in their communities, serve their country, and take care of the ones they love.

September 2011 - Latinos tend to be strong supporters of fairness and equality for LGBT people, and conversations that focus on shared values of family, respect, faith and opposition to discrimination can build even greater acceptance.

March 2011 - Ineke Mushovic, executive director of the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), and Brad Sears, executive director of The Williams Institute, open OutGiving 2011 with a comprehensive look at the movement for LGBT equality—its goals, its progress, its challenges, and where it stands today.

September 2010 - This series of briefs digs deeper into key topics addressed in the full report. The 13 briefs cover the challenges facing LGBT elders in areas from health disparities to pensions, while offering recommendations for policy actions to improve LGBT elders’ lives.

March 2010 - This report examines the unique challenges facing LGBT adults as they age. It shows how social stigma and inequitable policies and laws make it hard for LGBT elders to achieve financial security, good health, healthcare, social support and community engagement.

March 2010 - This report examines the unique challenges facing LGBT adults as they age. It shows how social stigma and inequitable policies and laws make it hard for LGBT elders to achieve financial security, good health, healthcare, social support and community engagement.

March 2010 - This snapshot, 10-page summary of Improving the Lives of LGBT Older Adults provides key findings from the full report and an overview of its recommendations for eliminating—or at least reducing—inequities and improving the lives, and life chances, of LGBT elders.

December 2009 - A Decade of Progress on LGBT Rights tracks 36 indicators of legal and social progress over the decade from 2000-2010, a period of dramatic gains in equality for LGBT people in the United States. By looking at the entire decade, this brief report offers new insights and a broad perspective on where the LGBT movement is today—and how far it came in just 10 years.

December 2009 - This 2009 presentation assesses challenges and opportunities for the LGBT movement, examines barriers that impede support for LGBT equality by "moveable middle" Americans, and reviews recent progress in advancing political, legal and social equality for LGBT people in the U.S.

May 2009 - This report, developed prior to the passage of the inclusive federal hate crimes law in 2009, focuses on emphasizing the overwhelming public support for LGBT-inclusive hate crimes laws, sharing stories that illustrate how LGBT people have been targeted for and hurt by violent hate crimes, and reminding people that hate crimes laws already exist across the country and are supported by law enforcement.

January 2009 - This snapshot report provides a capsule summary of the full report, as well as recommendations that can help LGBT organizations and their funders advance equality for transgender people in the years ahead.

January 2009 - This report provides an overview of the movement for transgender equality, as well as recommendations that can help LGBT organizations and their funders advance equality for transgender people in the years ahead.

January 2008 - This guide was created to help LGBT organizations learn more about how to win in the battle of ideas. It includes principles and strategies for effectively framing issues in authentic ways that can resonate with people’s values.

January 2008 - This guide is a summary of everything that an LGBT advocacy organization needs to know about running an effective communications campaign, from setting a campaign objective to measuring results—and everything in between.

A Brief Overview of MAP

Founded in 2006, the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) is an independent, nonprofit think tank that provides rigorous research, insight and communications that help speed equality and opportunity for all.

MAP works to ensure that all people have a fair chance to pursue health and happiness, earn a living, take care of the ones they love, be safe in their communities, and participate in civic life. MAP is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and donations to MAP are 100% tax-deductible. You can read more about MAP and the work we do on our About page.